Best UL reels under $50

[overdose]

i'm not looking to spend more than $50 on an UL reel for a reel weighing 6.5 or less and fairly smooth. I've been looking around and found some decent candidates but i would like to know if there are other reels out there.. not a big fan of pfleuger spinning reels so because i've had them break on me before. what other ones are out there? Been looking at the tica cetus SB500 and the laguna 500BI. what else would fall in this catagory of $50 budget reels? thanks for the help everyone

[108642]

The Mitchell avocet IV gold 500 is listed at 6.6 oz. at basspro.

[Thor]

You're not a fan of Pfluegers, they break, like every other under $50.00 spinning reel. I found, another one, this past summer. Impressed for a short time, a very short time. I love little reels, tried every one, disappointed each time. What I want is not available, so I settle for the best available. Unfortunately, that is over your budget. Keep looking, so will I.

[uljersey]

I don't know how you could break a Pflueger Trion ($39.99) fishing ultralight, unless perhaps you're clubbing the fish with it, but anyhow ...

Double your budget to $100 (or search for a used one) and look into a Daiwa Tournament SS 700. Legendary toughness, not as refined as a modern bells and whistles piece, but the benefits far outweigh the negatives. Before you laugh at it, do a bit of research and see for yourself. If you break one of those, I suggest you take up another hobby

[Afrayedknot]

Not sure how you could break a pflueger.. Did you manually close the bail every time after casting or did you turn the handle to close the bail? That could be a reason it would break.

I would normally suggest the pflueger president, but you said you don't like Pflueger's. My next choice would be the Shimano sedona 500D. A little bit over your price range though.

http://www.fishusa.com/Product/Shimano- ... ning-Reels

You could also look for a used Sahara or Symetre in the 500 size.

[uljersey]

Apologies to the original poster, I broke a cardinal rule of budget constraints (by suggesting a reel double his budget) - I know this drives some crazy, me included. I honestly couldn't think of a reel I had handled and had experience with that met his criteria otherwise.

Carry on

[ogrich31]

The only reels that I can think of that falls into that category are the older Abu Garcia Cardinals. They're great reels and you can still find them online. I believe the 300 models were 6-6.5oz?

[Thor]

The SS700 is an excellent reel, look for used ones on EBay, might find one in your price range. Very tough, lots of modifications to improve the internals but the fatal flaw is no infinite anti-reverse. The rotor moving backwards drove me nuts, gave my last ones away a long time ago.

[Smead]

it's getting harder to find the older "Made in Japan" 700's cheap anymore, even beat up ones...they get snapped up quickly for parts.

Though they are an excellent choice and a sharp eye might catch one in the desired price range with good luck.

Though there are literally hordes of Garcia Mitchell 308's, 408's and Garcia Mitchell/Mitchell 308A's to be had, shipped TYD for $50 and under on fleabay. The 408's do usually go for more.

Pop off spools, the shallow ones are good for UL with 2# and 4# line, they can de dis-assembled/re-assembled like they are made out of Lego and are easy to repair if needed. About 7 oz.; about the same weight as a Shimano Symetre 1000FJ.

You can also hybridize as desired...I have mid 1960's 308's with early 80's bails from 308A's so as to not have to use the early style line guides.

They do have pawl-ratchet style A/R, but I don't mind that.

it's fleabay though, junk can listed for a small fortune and you can find gems for 10 bucks.

[uljersey]

Funny thing about the Japanese SS series ... it seems to be one of the rare cases where the Japanese ones are considered inferior to their Thailand made twins. That seems to be the consensus among the majority of those who have more experience with them than I. I'm fairly new to them, I have no first hand experience otherwise.

Kind of a moot point anyhow, as they are all made in Thailand now and have been for quite a while.

[Smead]

I saw that somewhere...can't say what was used to determine what "better" meant though, or whether it was purely anecdotal...perhaps even an urban legend.

You would also have to know what years they were produced in each place and whether Thailand was just assembly, or were parts made there too etc., etc.

Though the StellaSW 2013 was shown to have some slop in an Alan Hawke review...made in Japan and costs an arm and leg too!

[uljersey]

I'm not bashing enthusiasts or collectors, but I sense there are some among us who seem to dismiss tackle arbitrarily because it's not from Japan. I understand fully there are those who collect some things meant to be no more than show pieces, and some who fish with their JDM stuff. Fair enough. But some guys take it a bit too far. But then again, this can apply to just about any pursuit you can think of - wine, cars, clothing, electronics ...

[tomustang]

Under 50? Shimano Sienna 500, 6.0oz

[Smead]

I guess there is/was the concept that the stuff made in Japan for sale in Japan was higher quality because their domestic buyers were demanding.

Pure BS, or mystique perhaps...or just the concept of paying more, for whatever the reason, is better??

Probably depends on what the item was, when it was made and by who.

[overdose]

Thanks for everyone's input. i would have opt for a better UL reel but i only fish UL like 1-2 months out of the year so i didn't want to spend too much. I ended up getting the tica SB500 because of the reviews but then again, it's an old reel... we'll see how it performs for trout/panfish.